Highway to Hell
by svvya
Summary: Curse-free, Rin just can't avoid conflict. So she just can't help getting into trouble when she hears a street-side preacher telling her to repent or face the terrors of hell. After all, she knows what hell is better than anyone.


Yeah, I've been inactive for a while, but I'm getting back in the saddle. Here's a short thing about something I could picture Rin doing. It was originally going to be Kyo, because basically everything is for me, but I thought Rin was more suited for it.

Spoilers for Volume 22... But, it could also be considered hypothetical... I guess.

--

Isuzu "Rin" Sohma strolled lazily through the streets, just killing time before she could meet Haru when his school day was over. She felt like she had a lot of time to kill since her Curse had broken. There was no goal she was striving to reach, really. There was no reason for her to get tangled up in sordid Sohma affairs and land herself in the hospital anymore.

Rin smiled. It was nice being free. She felt more relaxed than she ever had. Absently, she reached up to try and catch a Sakura blossom that was floating toward her through the sky, just as carefree as she was. They were both just drifting along with no goal in sight; both light without any worries to weigh them down. It landed in her ourstretched palm, and Rin tossed it aside, suddenly feeling stupid for comparing herself to a flower.

"_Repent!_" A voice broke through her tranquil thoughts, a loud, scratchy, unpleasant voice at that. She didn't stop walking, but turned her head as the voice sounded again. "Repent! Yes, _you_, young woman! Put aside your evil ways and be saved from the fires of damnation. A loving God is waiting for you!"

Rin couldn't hold back a snort of laughter. _A _loving_ God? Gimme a break._

"You scoff, but do you have any idea what hell is like?" Rin stopped and crossed her arms. This was going to be fun, wasn't it? A scruffy looking man was standing on the street corner, a sign propped up against his legs that read, GOD SAVES, in big, bold lettering. Rin really didn't want someone preaching at her to accept God when she had finally escaped him.

However, she wasn't really surprised that the man's preaching was directed at her. Her outfit was enough for the guy to peg her as a 'sinner.' She was wearing all black: a black miniskirt, skin-tight tanktop, and high-heeled boots that Tohru's Yankee friend had affectionately pegged as 'stripper boots' the first time she and Rin met. Not to mention the various, hardly unnoticable necklaces and bracelets Haru had made for her.

She made a beeline toward the man, and was a little satisfied to see that a flicker of panic crossed his face before he regained his composure and continued, "Do you have any idea what horror will await you if you don't accept-"

"Actually," Rin cut him off and stopped in front of him, placing one hand on her hip, "I know what hell is, thanks." She guessed that no one had dignified this guy with a response yet, because a few people were stopping and watching them with interest. The crowd was making Rin a little nervous, although she tried to remind herself that there was no reason for that anymore.

The man looked like he was steeling himself for a long argument; Rin just couldn't stop getting herself into awkward situations; old habits and all that. Although she was blissfully happy with her new found freedom, maybe she missed conflict.

"Then enlighten these good people, tell them the horrors so they can save themselves." Or maybe this guy was just pissing her off. He was a two-faced ass. He should repent himself.

Rin sighed, she should have just walked away. She glanced at the watch around her wrist and frowned, Haru would be getting out of school now, but if she hurried, she could probably still get there before he left the building. "Fine. Hell is an endless banquet, an unbreakable bond." She had had enough experience with hell to know that god sat at the head of the table that held that damned banquet.

The man gave her a small smile like he was an adult who was about to correct a mistaken child, and when he spoke again, his tone matched. "No, no, I think you're confused. That's _heaven_, not hell." Someone in the crowd tittered and Rin's temper flared. She crossed her arms and snapped, "Yeah? Well how do you know what hell is?" She took a step toward him, and he took a step back. Good, she was freaking him out. "Have you been there? 'Cause _I'm _speaking from experience. An eternal bond is something that'll really fu-"

"Rin." Rin jumped when a familiar voice spoke her name. "This is what kept you from meeting me? It's lucky you were near the school or I would have gotten lost looking for you." She pointedly avoided looking at Haru when he came over to her side and slipped his arm around her wait. She was more than a little embarrassed. But she could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "You can't avoid conflict, can you?"

She looked over at him and he was indeed smiling. She glared at the scruffy man and said sourly, "Sorry. He started it." She adeed as an after thought, "You could have just waited for me."

The man was obviously put off by being ignored when he and Rin were in the middle of a conversation, so he had to get himself noticed again. "You there, young man," he was referring to Haru, "You would agree that hell is not an eternal banquet or bond, yes?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, but hell's not fire or anything, either."

"Then what do you think it is?" Rin was sure this guy had never been more confused than he was today; he probably had never gotten so much attention, either.

"That's easy. Hell would be turning into a cow every time I wanted to hug this one here." He gave Rin a little squeeze to show he was talking about.

Rin covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, then somehow managed to nod with a straight face. "Yes, that would be pretty tragic." The man, and most of the gathered crowd, was giving them a stare that told them they should both be in a mental hospital.

"But that's not-"

"Hey, Rin, we better get going, Tohru invited us to dinner." Haru started to steer Rin away from everyone, giving the man a little wave as they left. "See ya, man," he called behind them. Rin let out a real laugh and rested her head against Haru.

"He seemed nice," Haru said with only a trace of a smile.

Rin just rolled her eyes and resisted a look back at the dumbfounded man.


End file.
